Internet helps girl with autism replace beloved shirt—150 times

Share this:

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Internet helps girl with autism replace beloved shirt—150 times

Cami in her favorite shirt. (Facebook)

Ever since Deborah Skouson came home with a pink flowered shirt for her daughter five years ago, Cami, who has autism, has been “fixated” on it.

It quickly became her favorite piece of clothing, leading Skouson to scour eBay each time her daughter’s current shirt became unwearable.

But the fifth time she sought a replacement, eBay’s stock had run dry. That’s when the Utah mom turned to Facebook, asking friends to share her request for the shirt along with her offer to pay whatever it cost, plus shipping. “It has to be this exact shirt!” Skouson wrote on Aug. 7. “We’ve tried similar shirts, and they don’t cut it with Cami!” As of Thursday, no less than 150 matching shirts have arrived at her door from as far away as Germany, reports the Daily Dot.

“At first, my daughter was a little confused to see more than one of her ‘pink flower shirts.’ I explained to her that people gave them to her because they loved her,” says Skouson, a special education teacher, noting people have offered to make teddy bears, pillows, and blankets for her 10-year-old out of any extra shirts.

She adds she tearfully accepted an offer from Target—which sells the Circo-brand item and heard about the story—to make larger versions of the shirt so Cami can wear it even when she’s an adult.

“It’s been very, very touching,” Skouson tells KUTV. “These are all total strangers,” she wrote on Facebook. “People are inherently good and kind, and I’m glad I’ve been able to be a recipient of that kindness.” (A photo of a cake decorated by someone with autism also went viral.)